Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Federal and State financial aid regulations require Skyline College (Skyline), to establish, publish and apply qualitative, quantitative and incremental standards by which Skyline can determine whether a student requesting and/or receiving financial aid is maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in his/her course of study. Financial Aid recipients are required a declared educational goal and enrollment in a Title IV eligible program.

Qualitative Standards:

The quality of a student’s academic progress is measured by the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA). Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 on a scale of 4.0. Courses completed with a grade of A, B, C, D, or P will be considered acceptable for Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Quantitative Standards:

The Skyline Financial Aid Office measures academic progress by the number of units a student has attempted and completed.

A. Maximum Time Frame:

All financial aid students will be expected to complete their program within 150% of the published length of the program. Students enrolled in 60 unit AA/AS, 4-year transfer, or vocational programs will be expected to complete their program by the time they attempt 90 units. Students enrolled in vocational programs of less than 60 units will be given a maximum time frame (attempted units) that is 150% of their chosen program's length.

B. Pace Rate:

It is expected that financial aid students will make continuous and steady progress towards their educational goals, referred to as Pace Rate. To measure whether students are progressing in their course of study within the maximum time frame, SMCCCD will evaluate the Pace Rate of financial aid students after each term (Fall, Spring and Summer). At the end of each term, students will be expected to have completed at least a cumulative 67% of all units attempted. Classes with grades of A, B, C, D, and P (Pass) are considered to have been completed. Classes with grades of F, NP (No Pass), I (Incomplete), and RD (grade delayed) will not be considered as completed. All classes taken at other institutions through a consortium agreement will also be included in the Pace Rate assessment.

Academic Load

Full-time (100%)

Three quarters-time (75%)

Half-time (50%)

Less than half-time

Minimum Unit Requirement

12 units or more

9-11.5 units

6-8.5 units

.5 up to 5.5

Associate Degree or Transfer Program maximum time frame is 90 units.

Incremental Standards:

The academic progress of financial aid students will be evaluated after each payment period. Progress will be evaluated after grades for the previous term are posted.

Financial Aid Warning:

When the academic progress of financial aid students is evaluated, students whose cumulative GPA is below 2.0 OR whose cumulative Pace Rate is below 67% will be placed on Financial Aid Warning. In addition, students who are either transferring to a SMCCCD college or who are continuing SMCCCD students, but never previously applied for financial aid, will be placed on Financial Aid Warning if their cumulative GPA is below 2.0 OR if their cumulative Pace Rate is below 67%. Students on Financial Aid Warning will be eligible for financial aid during the term that they are placed on warning. After the warning term, if a student's GPA AND/OR Pace Rate meet the District's minimum standard, the student will no longer be on Financial Aid Warning. Students who do not meet the GPA and Pace Rate standard will be deemed ineligible and required to appeal. If the appeal is approved, they will be placed on Financial Aid Probation.

Financial Aid Probation:

Students who have two consecutive or three cumulative evaluations where they fail to maintain the minimum GPA OR Pace Rate requirements will become ineligible and required to appeal to reinstate their financial aid. Students whose appeals have been approved will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. In addition, students who exceed the maximum time frame will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. Students on Financial Aid Probation must be following an academic plan.

Return of Federal Funds (Return of Title IV or R2T4)

Financial aid recipients who withdraw completely or reduce units before or equal to 60% of the semester is over, may have to return a portion of the aid received which was not earned. Students who withdraw and do not repay funds will have an institutional hold placed on future SMCCCD registration, transcripts and a national hold placed on future aid eligibility at any institution.

Please contact the Financial Aid Office to schedule an appointment to meet with the Financial Aid Counselor before withdrawing from any or all of your classes.

Other Requirements:

Repeated courses

Students are allowed to repeat classes for financial aid purposes, provided the classes are allowed under the SMCCCD repeat policy as specified in the college catalog. All repeated courses will be included in the maximum time frame assessment, the cumulative GPA assessment, and the cumulative Pace Rate assessment.

Transfer courses

All courses taken at other institutions will be included in the maximum time frame assessment, the cumulative GPA assessment, and the cumulative Pace Rate assessment, provided the courses will apply toward degree or certificate requirements. Courses at proprietary and trade schools will generally not be accepted for credit toward SMCCCD degree or certificate requirements. Upper division courses from four-year colleges and universities will be counted when calculating maximum time frame. All students with bachelor degrees will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must be approved by the appeal committee before being funded. Foreign courses will be counted if they have been professionally evaluated and accepted by the district. Students with a foreign bachelor’s degree will be considered to have exceeded the maximum time frame and must be approved by the appeal committee before being funded.

English as a Second Language (ESL)

ESL courses will not be counted when determining the remaining maximum time frame for a student. The academic progress in ESL courses will be considered when assessing both the student's cumulative GPA and Pace Rate.

Remedial courses

The first 30 remedial English and math units attempted will not be counted when determining the remaining maximum time frame for a student. The academic progress in these remedial courses will be considered when assessing both the student's cumulative GPA and cumulative Pace Rate.

Incomplete courses

"I" (incomplete) grades will be considered as "attempted," but will not be considered to have been "completed." If a student's "I" grade changes during a term, it is the student's responsibility to inform the financial aid office of the change. If the change of grade will affect the student's financial aid eligibility, a recalculation to determine eligibility will be conducted during the term. If the change of grade will not impact eligibility the new grade will not be factored into the cumulative Pace Rate until the next incremental assessment.

Special (SAP) Considerations

Pace Rate calculation is as follows:

Units Completed ÷ Units Attempted = Pace Rate

Withdrawals and Grades of “Incomplete”: Students who withdraw from classes or receive grades of “Incomplete” will have those classes included in the “Pace Rate calculation”. “Withdrawals” and “Incompletes” will be included with all other classes attempted.

Grades of “F” and “NP”: Students who receive grades of “F” or “NP” do not receive units for the classes attempted, but the units will be counted towards the maximum time frame. Note that “F” grades will be used in calculating the GPA.

Grades of “D” or better and “P”: Students who receive grades of “D” or better and “P” will receive units for the classes attempted. Thus, these classes would be considered to have been completed and will be used on calculating the maximum time frame, Pace Rate and GPA.